-LRB- CNN -RRB- On what would have been the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. 's 86th birthday , the Academy Awards decided to snub a beautiful film made about a seminal moment in his life .

`` Selma '' did pick up two nominations , including one for best picture . But when the Hollywood gods consider a film to be truly great , its actors and/or actresses , screenplay and particularly its director are also recognized . `` Selma '' is a good film that told a great story , at least according to Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences voters . Those voters are 93 % white , 76 % male and the average age is 63 , according to a 2012 analysis by the Los Angeles Times .

But did those demographics play a role in how `` Selma '' was received ? True , the historical drama has been besieged by criticism over accuracy , particularly its portrayal of President Lyndon Johnson . In the film , King and Johnson are depicted as a lot more adversarial than the actual tapes of their conversation suggests .

But it 's hard to see that being the reason for its snub : `` Gravity '' was nominated for 10 Oscars , won seven , and yet you wo n't find an astronaut who would describe the film as accurate . And `` Dallas Buyer 's Club '' was also a 2014 Oscar darling that sprinkled creative liberties all over a true story .

Race could be invoked as a factor when you remember the email exchange between two top-level Sony executives that became public courtesy of `` The Interview '' hack . In it they joked about the kind of movie President Obama prefers and then began listing only those starring black people . But the two were also unkind to Jeffrey Katzenberg in that same exchange . There were backstabbing remarks revealed in emails about Angelina Jolie and Adam Sandler as well .

My point is -- and I 'm sure I 'm at risk of losing my black card for writing this -- when those same old , white men made `` 12 Years A Slave '' a favorite of the Oscars just a year ago , it is hard to say the snubbing of `` Selma '' is all about the demographics of the voters . Some , sure . But all ?

Remember , these people live in a land of make believe , where it 's normal for the inhabitants to be injected with silicone . Oscar snubbings could come from a thousand superficial reasons , like someone sleeping with or not sleeping with the right person at the right time . In a town full of gay men , the heart wrenching `` Brokeback Mountain '' somehow lost out to the woefully mediocre `` Crash . '' Leonardo DiCaprio 's trophy case continues to sit empty . And I will never understand how `` Shakespeare in Love '' beat `` Saving Private Ryan '' for best picture . Truth be told . my favorite film of 2014 was `` The Drop '' and I do n't think that was nominated for anything by anyone .

It would have been wonderful to see `` Selma '' director Ava DuVernay become the first black female director nominated for an Oscar . She is incredibly talented and it is always nice to be recognized by peers . But I do not need her to win an Oscar to tell me how I should feel about `` Selma . ''

I do not need the Academy to tell me how I should spend my money at the movies . I do not need old , white men to validate a story so deeply personal and relevant to me today . That 's not to suggest Hollywood 's racism should not be called out . Only that the true story of Selma is much more than calling out racism .

To paraphrase the acceptance speech Common gave at the Golden Globes on Sunday , `` Selma '' the movie and Selma the historic marches are about the awakening of our humanity . The old guard at the Oscars has the power to snub `` Selma '' for whatever reason it sees fit . But as a summer full of marches for the fight for equality reminded us , Hollywood has neither the power to snub nor the authority to validate Selma .

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LZ : `` Selma 's '' 2 Oscar nominations seen as a snub by some ; Academy voters mostly white

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He says calling out Hollywood racism fine , but it may not be the reasons for only 2 nods

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LZ : I do n't need Academy to tell me how I feel about Selma , which is about awakening humanity